


Mischief and More

by hmweasley



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Baby Harry Potter, Childbirth, Established Rempus Lupin/James Potter, Established Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Fatherhood, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Minor James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2019-05-06 03:21:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14633025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hmweasley/pseuds/hmweasley
Summary: A collection of ficlets about the Marauders.Chapter 1: No matter what James says, his house is a miniature Hogwarts.Chapter 2: James admires his newborn son.Chapter 3: Sirius distracts Remus while he's in the library trying to study.Chapter 4: After Sirius almost gets Snape killed, James tries to distract himself on the Quidditch pitch until Remus appears to comfort him.Chapter 5: Remus finds a pair of Sirius' underwear in his bed.Chapter 6: During a battle, Sirius comes face to face with his brother.7: Peter tries to sleep as his decisions haunt his thoughts.8: Remus hates that Sirius is the only one paying for their flat, so he cooks him dinner.9: Remus plans to have a relaxing night, but Sirius has different plans.





	1. Miniature Hogwarts

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: incorporate someone fishing into your story

With his eyes closed, Sirius leaned his head back. A gentle breeze ruffled his air. It felt like something out of a fantasy.

Sirius had known from the moment he had arrived at the Potter estate the first time that it would be a world away from his family’s miserable townhouse in London. He couldn’t for the life of him understand why his parents chose to live in such a place when they could have used the Black fortune to purchase land like this.

The Potter house was as bright and cheerful as Grimmauld Place was dark and dreary, but on top of that, there was wide open space to enjoy yourself surrounding it. Even if Grimmauld Place had been picked up and dropped onto this land, Sirius would have had a brighter childhood with free reign of the grounds.

“I’m telling you,” he said to James, his eyes still closed, “this place really is a miniature Hogwarts.”

He didn’t need to open his eyes to imagine the scowl on James’ face.

“It’s not,” James insisted. “Hogwarts is a castle. That,” Sirius could feel him gesture towards the house, “is not a castle.”

“No, but you have a lake!”

Sirius opened his eyes and gestured at the water in front of them. The wind was strong enough that the water wasn’t perfectly calm, and Sirius found the ripples on the lake’s surface to be hypnotic.

There were fishing poles in their hands, but nothing had taken the bait. Sirius was starting to wonder how many fish there actually were in the water, but sitting out on the dock was peaceful enough that he didn’t feel the need to drill James about it.

He’d never been fishing before; James had. Perhaps fishing was a much slower activity than he had imagined it would be. That would explain why James had looked sceptical when Sirius had first made the suggestion.

“Plenty of houses have lakes, Sirius. That doesn’t make the house Hogwarts.”

Sirius had spent his entire life either in London or at Hogwarts, so he couldn’t confirm or deny James’ assertion. He had a feeling, though, that lakes weren’t as common a feature of houses as James was trying to imply.

You’d have to get lucky to just have one on your land, and he couldn’t imagine the Muggles would want to dig them without the help of magic. Lakes were enjoyable, but he wasn’t sure they were worth that level of work. He couldn’t believe Muggles took the time to garden without the aid of magic.

“Not my fault you can’t appreciate what you have,” Sirius shot back. “Honestly, I don’t know why you insist on arguing. You should be appreciative. Who wouldn’t want to live at a miniature Hogwarts?”

“Yeah,” James said with a roll of his eyes, “who wouldn’t want to live at school year round?”

Sirius had had to accept years ago that James would never appreciate the level of fondness he felt for Hogwarts. Few people did. Of his closest friends, only Remus came close to understanding what he felt, but it was still a very different thing for the two of them.

His grip on his fishing pole had loosened as time wore on and nothing happened, but suddenly, there was a tug. He jumped, fumbling for the pole that he’d nearly dropped in the water.

“Prongs!” he yelled unnecessarily. “Something bit the hook. There’s something there! What do I do?”

James rolled his eyes at Sirius’ panic.

“I told you,” he said. “You reel it in.”

As it turned out, Sirius caught the master fish who knew how to get a snack without being reeled in, but he still bragged about the encounter for days. One might have thought he’d successfully reeled in a whale.


	2. Live a Happy Life for Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James admires his newborn son.

The house was the most peaceful it had been since Lily had felt her first contraction, and James could breathe easily for the first time in hours.

In some ways, it was incredible that it was the evening when Lily had gone into labor in the morning. Time felt both like it had dragged on and like it had flown by as Lily passed through each stage of labor, from the first contraction to the afterbirth.

It had been a lot.

James couldn’t wrap his head around it. He smiled down at a sleeping Lily, brushing her hair away from her forehead. She looked as exhausted as he expected someone to be after delivering another human being into the world. Over the previous months, he’d thought he’d prepared himself for seeing her do it, but in the moment, he hadn’t been able to believe it was happening. He wasn’t sure he could have done it himself.

There had been numerous times when James had been impressed with his wife, but that day was probably at the top of the list.

Turning to his other side, James looked into the wooden bassinet they’d kept next to their bed for the past two weeks, waiting for it to be of use. Inside, Harry slept, looking very different from the screaming infant who had entered the world.

Even when he’d been screaming, James had loved him of course, but it was nice seeing him peaceful, his tiny chest rising and falling with each breath. It was easier to observe him closely when he was like this, and James was discovering that he loved discovering new characteristics he had missed before.

For each new feature he discovered, James could trace it back to him or Lily. Sometimes, he was certain his attribution was correct; other times, perhaps he was only seeing things. He was sure Harry’s nose, as small as it was, was reminiscent of his father’s, and the realization made his chest ache.

It had been hard to accept that his parents would never get to meet their grandson. From the time he’d fully realized what it meant to have parents who were advanced in age when he’d been born, he’d known there was a likelihood they wouldn’t be around for this part of his life, but it hadn’t made it easier when they’d passed.

Knowing Lily’s parents weren’t there either made it harder. The thought of it made James frown down at Harry for the first time.

He wanted to do everything in his power to make his son’s life wonderful, and he wished he had the power to give him back all four of his grandparents. Then again, James reminded himself, he’d never known any of his grandparents either, and though he did sometimes wish he’d met them, he didn’t harbor resentment towards the universe for taking them away.

He hoped Harry would grow up with a similar feeling, not missing them too terribly much. At least he would have his parents and his adopted aunts and uncles. (James didn’t think he’d miss Petunia, especially not once he was old enough to understand why they kept him away from her.)

Reaching into the bassinet, James stroked Harry’s head softly, holding his breath until he was certain the action wasn’t going to wake the newborn. With a content sigh, he continued to watch his son, resolved to do everything in his power to make his life the happiest it could be no matter what came next.


	3. Distraction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius distractions Remus in the library while he's trying to study.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompts:  
> (dialogue) "What are you up to?" / "I'm just sitting here like I'm supposed to."  
> Remus Lupin - Slash September

Remus glanced up from his parchment when he heard the chair across from him being pulled away from the table. Sirius smirked as he draped himself across the chair, and Remus scowled.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m just sitting here like I’m supposed to,” Sirius replied. “Isn’t that what you said you wanted me to do last night?”

“Just let me do my work,” Remus snapped back.

They hadn’t made up from their argument the previous day when Sirius had been pestering him and not letting him study. Remus been hoping that his anger was enough of a deterrent for Sirius to leave him alone for once. Clearly, he’d been too hopeful.

Sirius did indeed sit quietly, but his presence was distracting enough, which he was well aware of. Remus couldn’t help himself from repeatedly looking up and seeing the smirk on Sirius’ lips. The way his posture exuded confidence was both annoying and incredibly attractive. Remus kept shifting in his chair and refocusing his attention, but Sirius would undoubtedly pull it away again with no effort, self-satisfied smirk firmly in place.

Remus placed his quill down with a huff.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than stare at me? Like your own homework maybe?”

“What homework could be more important than spending quality time with my boyfriend?” Sirius shot back.

Biting at his lip to keep himself from saying something he’d regret, Remus glared at his parchment, fighting an internal battle.

“When’s that paper due?” Sirius asked, leaning forward and managing to ask the question in a voice that sent shivers down Remus’ spine.

“Next Friday,” Remus said, already knowing where Sirius was going with his line of questioning.

“That’s plenty of time for a quick snog.”

Remus took a deep breath as he looked at Sirius, stomach fluttering as they made eye contact. Sirius had leaned over the table as far as he could without rising from his chair, and Remus felt heat radiate from his skin as he itched to pull Sirius closer.

“Tomorrow I get to study uninterrupted,” he said, voice strained.

Sirius nodded.

“Cross my heart,” he said, drawing a cross over his heart. “I’ll be a good boy and annoy James instead.”

With a short nod, Remus stood and began shoveling everything into his bag. Sirius let out a quick cheer that Remus quickly hushed as he glanced around for Pince. They were out of the library before the librarian could appear to scold them.


	4. Freezing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Sirius almost gets Snape killed, James tries to distract himself on the Quidditch pitch until Remus appears to comfort him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompts:  
> location - Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch  
> James Potter - Slash September

James made his broom go faster, relishing the way the cold wind stung at his face. He slung the Quaffle through the goal post and smirked with satisfaction when it zoomed through. It hadn’t been a tremendous feat, considering the goal post was unattended as he flew around the pitch by himself, but that didn’t matter to him at the moment.

Not bothering to retrieve the Quaffle, he took to doing tricks on his broom. He just wanted to keep moving. As long as the cold and flying were occupying his attention, he couldn’t think of anything else. 

He made a sharp turn towards the ground to perform a dive and caught sight of a figure walking out on the pitch. Pulling his broom up sharply, James came to a stop. Everything felt slower after getting used to the world zooming by. He watched Remus as he walked towards him, feeling like it was happening in slow motion.

Frowning, James lowered himself to the ground.

“Why are you out here?” James asked before Remus could speak. “You should be recovering from the other night.”

Remus rolled his eyes.

“Pomfrey let me leave. I’m not going to lay around the dormitory all day when I’ve already done that in the hospital wing. Besides, you’re out here too.”

James narrowed his eyes.

“I didn’t transform two nights ago.”

“No,” Remus replied, “but that doesn’t mean you didn’t have a difficult night too. I heard what happened, James. I know it was you who got Snape out of there. If it weren’t for you… Well, we both know what would have happened. And I’m thankful for what you did, but I don’t want you pretending like it didn’t affect you.”

“I’m fine,” he snapped, taking a step back.

“Stop lying.”

James’ shoulders sunk.

“It’s hard,” he admitted. “When Sirius told me what he’d done… I’ve never been more frightened in my life, and I had no way of knowing if I’d get there in time or not. Even once I had Snape out, he was yelling about how he’d tell the whole school, and with the adrenaline and everything, I didn’t think Dumbledore could stop him, and I just…”

He trailed off, tugging at his hair. Making eye contact with Remus, he fell still as he was held in place.

“But none of that compares with what it was like for you,” he concluded.

Remus shook his head and took a step forward. He placed his hands on James’ waist and pulled him in for a kiss.

“I couldn’t even remember anything that happened. Dumbledore had to recount it for me. You’re the one with the memories.”

James shrugged and leaned in to press his forehead against Remus’. They stood there for a moment, taking in the comforting presence of the other, before Remus pulled away.

“You’re freezing,” he said. “Let’s go back inside.”

James didn’t argue. He let Remus lead him back to the castle. With their hands clasped together, James felt warmer than he had in days.


	5. Get You Flustered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus finds a pair of Sirius' underwear in his bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  
> "I still have your underwear." / "I still have your virginity."

Remus hummed to himself as he went about his usual weekend cleaning. He’d been happier over the previous few months than he’d ever been before. Even Sirius teasing him for cleaning when there were house elves for that purpose hadn’t dampered his mood.

Sirius was perched on his own bed, eyes closed as he pretended to take a nap—to demonstrate how boring Remus was being, of course. James was off with Lily doing Merlin knew what, and Peter had made himself scarce like he’d been doing frequently since all three of his best mates had gotten themselves into relationships.

Straightening his bed sheets for the first time in more than a week, Remus realized there was something bunched up at the foot of his bed that wasn’t the sheets. With a frown, he reached under the covers, tugging the offending item out.

The strangled sound he made when he realized it was Sirius’ underwear in his hand was enough to make Sirius open his eyes, his grin turning deadly when he saw what had prompted his boyfriend to make the sound.

“I still have your underwear,” Remus said, doing his best to appear unaffected.

Sitting up, smirk firmly in place, Sirius replied, “I still have your virginity.”

Though it was only the two of them, heat rushed to Remus’ cheeks and to the pit of his stomach. Memories of the previous week’s events returned uninvited. He kept Sirius’ underwear pinched between his forefinger and thumb as if wary, though he’d touched far more.

He kept his gaze averted as Sirius stood. Taking his underwear from Remus, he tossed it behind him without bothering to see where it landed. Remus watched as it fell to the side of Sirius’ bed, sure to be kicked underneath and not seen again until the end of the year. It was a shame. Sirius had looked extremely good in that particular pair. Not that he didn’t look good in every pair of underwear he owned. Remus had been steadily learning that lesson.

When Sirius was quiet for too long, Remus finally looked at him instead of his discarded underwear. His blood rushed through his veins as Sirius’ body heat mingled with his.

“If you’ll be like this every time, I’m going to leave my underwear with you a lot more often.”

Remus rolled his eyes and surged forward to kiss Sirius, drowning out any other teasing comments he’d had in mind.


	6. Ruin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During a battle, Sirius comes face to face with his brother.

Order members and Death Eaters intermingled as the fight drug on. Sirius knew he was going to get whiplash from how quickly he had to turn his neck to catch as much of what was happening as possible. The turbulent battle was supposed to have been nothing, but one small misstep on someone’s part, and they were fighting a full on battle.

A turquoise spell flew past Sirius’ head, narrowly missing him, and Sirius’ heart stopped, not from the near miss but from the spell itself. He twirled around to find the Death Eater who had cast it. Despite the mask the man wore, Sirius knew exactly who he was looking at.

A chill traveled down his spine as he looked at his brother. That spell had always been Regulus’ favourite, and though it was a minor jinx, it could be deadly in the wrong hands. Regulus’ hands were undoubtedly the wrong ones.

If the spell hadn’t been proof enough of his identity, Regulus came straight towards him, wand raised, and Sirius knew he was being targeted for a reason.

“It seems the tides have turned.”

He had disguised his voice with a spell, making it raspier.

“Are you not brave enough to talk to me with your own voice, Reg? Or to look me in the eye without that ridiculous mask? If your cause is noble, why do you hide yourself?”

Regulus didn’t answer him, but he also didn’t back away or lower his wand. Sirius’ own wand was clenched in his hand, but he refused to raise it until it was necessary.

“Even though I knew they’d get to you,” Sirius continued, “I still hoped you’d see through their idiocy before it went too far.”

Sirius’ heart sank as he listened to his brother’s real laughter, not the laugh of the spell.

“You shouldn’t be surprised, brother. Isn’t this how things always were? You had to make things difficult. You were only concerned with your own interests and cared little for the Black family. I was the one who thoughts about our family, about our parents.”

“We have different ideas of what tarnishes the family name, Regulus. This doesn’t have to be something that our family destroys itself for.”

“Does it not?’ Regulus asked. “Our fight for the honour we’re owed is a crucial part of the Dark Lord’s plan. The rest of the family can see that.”

“They’re prejudiced fools, Regulus. How can you not realize how stupid they are?”

Regulus took another step forward, his wand almost poking Sirius in the chest.

“You’re the foolish one, Sirius. You always have been. Gallivanting with people below your status without showing any care about how it reflected on the family. You have no sense of self-preservation. It’s no wonder you weren’t sorted into Slytherin. It would have been a mistake.”

“A tragedy,” Sirius agreed. “I’m afraid it was for you too.”

His words had been the final straw. Regulus reared back to fire his spell, and Sirius reacted with reflexes that came from war. Regulus’ jinx collided with his shield, ricocheting off and flying into the crowd.

Sirius desperately hoped it didn’t hit one of the Order, but he didn’t have enough time to look.

In any other situation, he wouldn’t have hesitated to incapacitate the Death Eater he was fighting, but for once, he found himself making careful decisions about the strength of the spells he produced.

Suddenly, Regulus collapsed in front of him, and Sirius’ eyes widened before he looked up at Remus, who had his wand pointed at Regulus’ prone form.

Though he didn’t say anything, his eyes asked Sirius if he was all right. Sirius gave a short nod and his signature smirk, determined to forget that the still masked Death Eater unconscious at his feet was his brother.

Stepping over him carefully, he rejoined the fray and pushed thoughts of the brother he wished to forget from his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompts:  
> Write about a relationship between characters on either side of the war (doesn't have to be romantic)  
> (word) chill  
> (word set) turbulent, turquoise, tide


	7. Haunted Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter tries to sleep as his decisions haunt his thoughts.

Peter stared up at the ceiling. He’d given up having a restful night’s sleep months ago. Staring at the ceiling in the dark was like watching a Muggle film play out before his eyes. He would watch various moments of the previous year play out in front of him as he tried to work out how they might have gone differently had circumstances been differently.

Joining Voldemort hadn’t been a choice in his mind, though he knew his friends would view it differently should they ever learn the truth. He hadn’t gone looking for the Death Eaters; they had found him and not wanted to take no for an answer.

He had gone along with it to save himself. If he hadn’t, he would have been dead. At the time, he’d filled himself with illusions of grandeur: he could change things from the inside, but he didn’t dare reveal what had happened to his friends for shame that he hadn’t been brave enough to refuse entirely.

Those illusions of changing things had quickly shattered. He was ordered to do things, and he did them because there was no safe way not to. Time and time again, he didn’t have the courage that he felt he should have. And the longer it went on, the less he could confide the truth in his friends. 

They would never speak to him again. No one would ever understand.

When he’d joined, he’d been sure that one thing he would never do was betray his friends. But then Voldemort himself had stood in front of him and demanded to know where the Potters were, and Peter had crumbled. His last shreds of hope that he might do the right thing were gone forever.

“It was necessary,” he whispered to himself in the dark, trying to make it sound true. “If I hadn’t, I’d be dead.”


	8. Let Me Do Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus hates that Sirius is the only one paying for their flat, so he cooks him dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompts:  
> Write about preparing a meal or drink for someone.  
> Write about someone moving into a new home.  
> (word) sizzling

Remus dumped the marinated chicken into the stir fry, feeling satisfied at the sizzling that resulted. He didn’t dislike cooking. It had a calming effect on him as long as he wasn’t making anything particularly difficult, and a stir fry was hard to screw up. He stirred, watching the ingredients morph into something that looked more appetizing than its raw components.

Behind him, stacks of boxes still waited to be opened. He should have been doing those as well. When Sirius had left to get the last of his things from the Potters’ house, Remus had been determined to have at least half of his own boxes unpacked before Sirius returned as a nice surprise, but that hadn’t happened. Just unpacking one had taken far longer than Remus had expected, and when his stomach had started growling, his planned surprise had become dinner instead of the unpacking.

Either way, he hoped Sirius appreciated the nice gesture on their first night in their new flat together. Remus’ stomach tightened as he thought about how they actually had their own flat, just the two of them. The seven years they’d spent in a dormitory with James and Peter wouldn’t compare to what it was like to have Sirius with him but none of their friends around to disturb them.

He was pretty sure they wouldn’t be getting much unpacking done that night. He sighed as he thought about how he really should have done more of it while Sirius was out, no matter how good dinner sounded.

From the living room, Remus heard the fire crackle and someone tumble onto the carpet, quickly followed by Sirius calling, “I’m home!”

Remus couldn’t help but smile at the choice of words, and he was sure Sirius heard the smile in his voice when he called back, “In the kitchen!”

Sirius appeared in the kitchen doorway a second later with a pizza box in his hands that Remus grimaced at just as Sirius frowned at the stove.

“I left my boxes in the living room,” Sirius said slowly. “Are you cooking dinner?”

“Yes,” Remus replied, turning around to fully face Sirius and eye the pizza box that he was clutching.

“I brought pizza,” Sirius said with a grin.

Remus sighed. This was an outcome that he hadn’t considered when he’d made the decision to cook them both dinner.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Remus said. “I’ve got dinner under control.”

“No worries,” Sirius said, placing the pizza on top of a box that sat on their new kitchen table. “We can always eat stir fry _and_ pizza. I’m not going to complain about having too much food.”

Remus nodded, but he didn’t quite manage to hide the frown on his face as he turned back to the stove. Sirius was quick to come up behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist and resting his chin on Remus’ shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his breath hitting Remus’ ear and making him shiver.

“Nothing,” Remus replied shortly, scowling when Sirius pinched at his side to tell him that he didn’t believe him. 

The stir fry was cooked, so Remus removed it from the burner and turned off the stove before turning in Sirius’ arms. He wrapped his own arms around Sirius’ waist and looked at his chest instead of his eyes as he spoke.

“It’s just that you’re the only one really paying for this flat, and you bought most of the furniture. What you didn’t buy was mostly gifts from James or his parents or my dad. And it’s not like you have a ton of money anymore. You got disowned, and you still have to buy everything. Meanwhile, I don’t have a job and I’m just mooching off—”

“Stop,” Sirius said in a stern voice that forced Remus to look into his eyes. “You’re not mooching off me. You’ve been looking for a job harder than any of us since we left Hogwarts. It’s not your fault the world’s a shitty place. I’ve found work, and you haven’t. _Yet_. What do you expect me to do, Remus? Force you to live on the street when I’d rather have you here with me anyway? No thank you.”

Tears stung at Remus’ eyes, and he turned back to the stove to conceal them.

“So, I guess we’re having stir fry and pizza then. Interesting combination,” he said, doing his best to keep his voice light.

Sirius laughed as if he couldn’t hear the tears in Remus’ voice, even though they both knew he could.

“A wonderful combination,” he said. “Two of my favourite foods. Eaten with my favourite person.”

He came up behind Remus again, kissing at his neck until Remus laughed and shoved him away to get plates.

“I’m telling you, Remus. We’re going to have the time of our lives together. Just you wait.”

Remus shook his head fondly at him as he disappeared into the living room with some paper plates. He couldn’t keep a smile off his face, and his insecurities were quickly forgotten.


	9. You're Such a Tease

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus plans to have a relaxing night, but Sirius has different plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompts:  
> Wolfstar  
> "You're such a tease."  
> tea

Remus cradled the warm cup of tea in his hands. His favourite woolen blanket was draped across his lap as he sat in front of the fireplace, making his form look like little more than a grey blob on the sofa. It was the only decent way to end the long week he’d had at the Muggle record shop where he worked. The shop itself was going through a difficult time keeping business, and the owner frequently took out his frustrations on Remus, who had no choice but to bear it.

The situation wasn’t doing any favours for his mental health. At the same time, Remus knew the uncertain future of the shop was the only reason he had the job in the first place. If business were better, his boss would be able to hire a worker who didn’t call in sick every month using increasingly hard to believe excuses. It wasn’t as if the man could do much when all of Remus’ paychecks came under the table.

Remus took a sip of his tea and sighed at the mere thought of having to go back on Monday. He’d stand behind the counter, waiting for customers that would never come, until his boss showed up to yell about how the lack of business was all Remus’ fault as if he’d driven away the customers that had stopped coming long before he’d taken the job.

His back and shoulders ached despite him spending much of his days just sitting behind a counter wishing there were items that needed to be restocked. He blamed it on the anxiety that came not only from work but from the impending doom that had enveloped all of wizarding Britain. With a groan, he stretched, pressing himself into the back of the couch. It momentarily relieved his muscles, but the soreness quickly settled back in.

He let his eyes flutter shut briefly. Perhaps it would have been better to go straight to bed, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that sleeping was a waste of a Friday evening. Between the long hours he put in at work and the even more dangerous jobs with the Order, his time for reading was limited, and he’d been working his way through Frankenstein for several months.

His eyes flickered to the book lying on the low coffee table in front of him. The book filled him with mixed emotions. He worried that he was supposed to sympathize with Doctor Frankenstein when he cared far more about the monster and its plight. He itched to pick it up and begin reading again, but his brain just didn’t want to exert the effort of reaching for the book, let alone trying to digest the words on the page.

A short laugh drew Remus’ attention away from the book and the tea he still clutched in his hands. He looked towards the corner of their flat where Sirius was sat at the desk. Minutes earlier, he’d been scribbling a letter to James and Lily. Currently, he was watching Remus from across the room, the firelight flickering in his eyes.

The look made a familiar feeling begin to stir deep in the pit of Remus’ stomach, but that, too, Remus wasn’t sure he was awake enough to handle. Even as he had that thought, though, he felt his mind growing alert. As much as Remus loved books, Sirius was a more effective stimulant than the words found both comfort and uncomfortable musings in.

“What?” Remus asked, trying but failing to sound stern.

In a useless attempt to appear uninterested, he finally reached for his book, replacing it on the table with his cup of tea that was about to be entirely forgotten.

“Nothing,” Sirius shot back.

He leaned his chair back on its hind legs and stretched, letting the hem of his shirt ride up and expose a strip of pale skin. Remus opened his book and stared at a randomly chosen page without reading the words.

The deception—if it had ever been effective enough to be called such—could only last so long. Remus found his eyes travelling back to Sirius, who was still watching him with the same hungry look in his eyes.

“You’re such a tease,” Remus said with a halfhearted roll of his eyes.

Sirius threw his head back in laughter before finally rising from the desk. He approached Remus slowly, tantalizing. Meanwhile, the blanket over Remus’ lap was growing warmer than was comfortable, but he hesitated to push it aside and show that Sirius was getting him bothered.

“Maybe I am a tease,” Sirius said, collapsing onto the sofa beside Remus, “but you are just as distracting.”

Remus hummed, though he wasn’t sure if it was in response to Sirius’ words or his proximity. Either way he fit himself easily into Sirius side, not noticing when his book slid from his lap and straight to the floor.


End file.
